Family Fun and the Fourth

A couple weekends ago I was determined to check out a farmer's market, but didn't want to deal with the crowds of the big one in Minneapolis. I did a little Googling and found another one close by that seemed to have food, wares, and even music. Sounded good to me so we headed off to Golden Valley's farmer market.

It's a little early for certain food items, but we still found some goodies to buy such as radishes (a Jesse fav), small potatoes, and fresh bread. We picked up these fantastic pretzel rolls and even went back for more.

Num, num. Pretzel bread.

Once we made our purchases we sat down to listen to some music. At some point Riley started singing along  (in her own words, of course) to the joy of everyone around us. She's always loved music, but she's been embracing singing lately. She might find a familiar tune and then makes up her own words to the song. She's totally her father's daughter in this regard. I don't know how many songs Jesse had made up and sang to me so I love that she does this too.

Also, had a caprese kabob from that food truck to the right which was delish

We tried to leave, but Riley wanted to go back and listen to the music. Ok, fine by us. We found a grassy spot and laid down while she sang, jumped all over us, took pictures on her own, and just hung out. It was rather nice.

Photo by Riley

I'm learning all sort of things you can do with thin, fine hair that I could never do with my thick hair.

Reluctantly leaving the farmer's market

Want to find a local Minnesota farmer's market? This site is the place to go. 

A few days later we tried another neighborhood treasure hunt, but brought daddy along this time. It started out well enough until there was a pretty traumatic 'knee to concrete' incident. But even after that happened (and the blood was still flowing) Riley wanted to make sure she got in a swing ride before going home. Go figure.

Stick!

Rock!

Bloody knee! *not on the treasure hunt list

And then there was the 4th of July - Independence Day. It was a day I used to love, and hope to again, but now it's just nice to have a day off of work before I start cursing the neighbors for setting off fireworks that freak the F out of my kid. Plus, (on a sad note) the 4th of July brings back so many memories of my brother, Scott, who passed away 5 years ago. He loved the 4th and wanted to make it an incredibly fun event especially for the kids. Gosh, I miss that guy.

At any rate, we tried to get outside a bit with Riley and headed over to a local park to kick a ball around.

Riley actually stayed up until almost 10 PM this night, but not like most kids who were trying to stay awake for the fireworks. She was just freaking out like she has been all week on the sleep front (thank you for being consistent on that kid #dripping in sarcasm). Luckily, she fell asleep with Jesse sleeping by her side just before the bangs and booms started. It was a fairly uneventful day, but was really nice to get a break in the work week and hang with the family on a nice day. That alone made it worth it.

One day this kid will love fireworks, right?